Loud or unpleasant sounds that make their way from outside into buildings can create an unrelaxing atmosphere that nobody wants to be in. Luckily, noise reduction when renovating or building is not difficult to achieve and here at Nu-line windows we offer a range of different glazing solutions to help with noise problems.

Generally speaking, the glass that you choose to put in your house has one the most dramatic effects on how well noise is able to make its way through the walls and into your home.

There are four main ways one can reduce noise through glass selection:

1. Thicker Glass- Improving the thickness of the glass provides dampening of low frequency noises such as traffic.

2. Laminated Glass- Glass accompanied with a clear laminate film interlayer is particularly effective compared to monolithic glass of the same thickness. This is our standard single glazed option.

3. Double Glazing – Standard double glazed units do not provide effective noise reduction on their own (for double glazed units to be effective they need to have large 50-100mm air gaps – normal double glazed units have air gaps of around 12mm). However, if a double glazed unit incorporates thicker glass, a laminated sheet, varying thickness on each side or optimally a combination of these, double glazed units can be very effective at controlling noise.

4. Noise Reduction Glass (Hush Glass) – Another option is a new glass technology called the Hush glass. Hush glass is a laminated piece of glass that uses a unique interlayer that effectively dampens noise. This means that thinner and lighter glass can be used while maintaining an equivalent acoustic performance.

Here are two tables detailing common sound levels and recommended levels of noise in different environments as well as sound insulation data for different types of glass (double glazed units not shown due to the number of combinations available):